


Brothers on the Frontlines

by jayray71



Category: Percy Jackson & The Olympians (Movies), Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Brothers, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, This fic is not out to hurt you
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2019-11-09 01:32:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17992286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jayray71/pseuds/jayray71
Summary: "Sally Jackson, adoptive mother of Luke Castellan, now Jackson."Heart pounding, she skimmed through the rest of the paperwork. Of course a god could snap his fingers and settle a legal adoption. Standing up, she made her way in to Percy's room. It seemed that she has two sons to look after.Or:Hermes decides to interfere and makes sure that his son is taken care of. How will history change when Luke has a family to look out for? And what will the Fates make sure stays the same?





	1. Prologue: Two Sons

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! This is my first time writing fanfiction, but I read somewhere that you should write the story you want to read, and I got it in my head that Luke would have been a great older brother if he was given a chance. That being said, he'll naturally be different from the books since his entire upbringing has changed. 
> 
> Two big changes: he never met with Annabeth and Thalia, and he is two years younger than the books. In the prologue Percy is four and Luke is nine. 
> 
> This is planned to be multiple chapters and should span the entire series. For anyone here for Percy/Jason, I'm not speeding up their meeting so that'll be a while off. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading as much as I've enjoyed writing!
> 
> *I do not own Percy Jackson or any of these characters. All credit to Rick Riordan*

Prologue

Percy Jackson was having a good day. 

His mom had the day off, so she brought him to the park to enjoy some of the sunshine before summer changed to fall. Percy didn't really mind what the weather looked like, as long as he wasn't cooped up inside the apartment for a few hours.

He had spent the majority of the morning playing by the little creek that ran through one side of the park, building houses out of sticks and rocks and splashing around. Now, though, the slide was calling his name.

When Percy made it to the slide, however, he saw a blonde boy curled up in the entrance.

"Hiya!" Percy chirped as he clambered up the steps.

The boy hunched his shoulders before peeking back at Percy. Percy's eyes widened when he saw the bruising along the boys cheekbone. He tentatively reached out and touched the area. 

"Did you fall?" He whispered. "My mom has bandaides."

The boy shook his head. "Don't worry about it kid. I'm fine." His shoulders were up around his ears by this point and his cheeks were red. He startled when he felt two surprisingly strong little arms wrap around his stomach from behind. He whipped his head around and caught on big green eyes and a pouting lower lip.

"My name isn't kid, it's Percy," he said while making big kitten eyes.

The blonde grudgingly responded with a short "I'm Luke". He already didn't like his chances in life if he couldn't even resist a little cuddle and big green eyes.

"Momma says you should always tell a grown up when you get hurt. Did you tell a grown up you fell?" Without even waiting for a reply, Percy began to wiggle around until he was pressed against Luke's side, tugging on Luke's arm until it was wrapped around his shoulders in a side hug. He curled his knees up to his chest and turned slightly towards Luke until they were snuggled together. One arm wrapped around Luke's back and the other hand absently went into his own mouth. 

Luke shook his head and faced forward again, but didnt do anything to break the hug. His eyes felt wet but he wasnt crying. He fought _monsters_ and his mom went _crazy_ and the thing that finally brought him down would _not_ be a cuddle from a toddler. 

A sticky (and wet) hand was suddenly in his field of vision. "Want a candy?" Percy asked, palm opening to reveal some gummy bears.

Luke's nose crinkled instinctively at the knowledge that that little hand was just in Percy's mouth when his stomach growled. It _had_ been a couple of days since he had eaten anything, and he couldn't remember the last time he had a treat. Squinting at the fistful of candy, he grabbed one of the bears that seemed to be dry. Percy's sunshine lopsided grin made it more than worth the little bit of spit.

__________

Sally Jackson was not going to panic. Sure, she hadn't seen Percy since he ran over towards the slides, and _sure_ her son seemed to attract monsters literally from the crib, but today was a _good day_ and she was not panicking. She very calmly made her way to the playground equipment and very calmly ran up the steps, letting out a huge sigh of relief when she spotted Percy at the top of the slide. He was.. snuggling? With an older boy while sharing a handful of sticky gummy bears. 

Taking in the scene she called out, "Percy?" Both kids whipped around, Percy with a huge grin and the older boy in fear. Sally didn't miss the way the blonde pulled Percy closer to him and a little behind. She also didn't miss the bruising around his eye.

She crouched down so she wasn't looming over either boy, and offered him a gentle smile.

"Hello sweetheart, I'm Percy's mom, Sally." 

The boy glanced down at Percy who nodded his head enthusiastically, before warily meeting her eyes again. "I'm Luke ma'am," he said quietly.

Sally inched closer and gently tilted his face, inspecting the bruising on his cheek. He also had a few tiny scratches, making it look more like he fell instead of getting hit. When she ran her thumb over the area he closed his eyes and his lower lip trembled a bit. 

"Where are your parents honey?" She asked gently.

Luke flinched away as his eyes snapped open. He kept his eyes glued to the ground as he shrugged his shoulders. 

Sally took in the bruising and the torn clothes, not missing the fact that it looked like he hadn't had a bath in a week or two. Taking a deep breath, Sally pressed forward. "Do you still live with your parents honey?"

Luke shrank in towards himself even more and refused to meet her eyes. A gentle hand brushed some of his hair off his forehead before Sally tilted his face towards her again, giving him a soft smile. 

"I'm sure you're hungry. Percy and I were planning on making sandwiches for lunch, would you like to join us?" 

At that, Percy let out a whoop and squeezed Luke even harder around the middle. "You can see my room!" He shouted, already babbling about all the things they could do together.

Luke's eyes darted to her face, taking in her serious expression. "Really?" He whispered.

Sally continued to card through his hair as she searched his eyes. With a short nod to herself, she stood up and indicated the boys do the same. "Yep, you'll come home with us and we can figure things out from there." With that she sat down on the other slide and put both of her arms in the air before sliding down to the ground.

Luke watched her with wide eyes, but Percy just giggled and scrambled into Luke's lap. "Come on, let's go!". And with a tilt forward they both slid down together. 

_______

While the boys were wolfing down sandwiches, Sally went into her room to change. Her eyes immediately zeroed in on the packet of papers on her bed, papers she was positive weren't there when she left. 

Holding up the first page, she read;

_Sally Jackson,_

_As I believe you are aware from your own experiences, the role I am allowed in my own son's life is minimal. I have watched over him as best as I can given the laws that govern my family, but he needs a parent who is can be there for him full time. His mother is unfortunately no longer able to do so, and I guided him to you in the hopes that you could take care of him when we are unable._

_In this packet you will find all the necessary paperwork._

_Please tell Luke I'm sorry and I would be there if I could._

_-Hermes_

Sally sat down with a thud. _Hermes?_ Luke was another demigod? No wonder he looked half starved and banged up. He likely had been on the run for several months, although she wasn't sure what Hermes meant about his mother. Maybe she had been injured or was taken away, though it sounded like she was still alive. 

Thoughts racing, Sally glanced back down at the letter. Not only did Hermes know about her and Percy, he also thought.. what? That she would be a good parent to Luke? She worked in a _candy shop_ for gods sakes, she could barely afford to keep herself and Percy afloat. She always swore that she would go back to school but it was impossible with a four year old and a full time job. How could she add another child to that?

Giggling could be heard outside her room before the door swung open. "Momma, can I show Luke my stuffed shark?"

Sally glanced up to see both boys peeking their heads in the doorway. She gave Percy a shaky smile before making eye contact with Luke. Her eyes traced over his bruise and took in his scruffy clothes, and met his wary eyes before she squared her shoulders.

"Of course sweetheart, you can show him any of your toys. Be sure to share." With that both boys took off for Percy's room.

With determination she looked back down at the letter, setting it aside before she picked up the other paperwork.

_Sally Jackson, adoptive mother of Luke Castellan, now Jackson._

Heart pounding, she skimmed through the rest of the paperwork. Of course a god could snap his fingers and settle a legal adoption. Standing up, she made her way in to Percy's room. It seemed that she has two sons to look after.


	2. I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All characters belong to Rick Riordan.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

Percy let his forehead thud against the bus window. The entire ride from their boarding school in upstate New York to the museum in the city, Nancy Bobofit had been throwing scraps of her peanut butter sandwich at the back of Grover's head. Grover had always made an easy target, a scrawny 6th grader who already had a wisp of a beard and cried way too easily. The sharks at Yancy Academy, school for troubled (read: criminal) teens, ate him alive. 

Percy was already on probation for the most recent incident (he didn't _mean_ to spill his lunch tray on Nancy's stupid red hair, it just _slipped_ ), and he really couldn't afford to get into another fight. 

"I'm going to kill her," Percy said conversationally as he watched Grover pick another chunk of sandwich from his curly hair.

"It's really not that bad," Grover whispered back while shaking out his hands and flinging bits of peanut butter into the aisle. "Really, I like peanut butter."

Percy turned back to the window with a scowl. No one _liked_ peanut butter enough to want to pick it out of their hair. But he _promised_ Luke that he wouldn't get into any trouble on this trip. 

It wasn't that Percy _liked_ to get in trouble, he just seemed to attract it. Like last year when his school took a trip to Saratoga battlefield and _somehow_ Percy accidentally sort of set off one of the cannons and blew a hole through the bus. Or in third grade when a strange man in a trench coat and a tophat stalked him around the playground until Luke started throwing things at him and a teacher call 911. No one had believed them that under the hat the man only had one eye.

So, here Percy sat, doing his best to ignore Nancy Bobofit and prove to his brother that he could make it through one measly school trip without starting Armageddon. 

 

______

The class followed Mr. Brunner deeper into the museum until they reached the Greek and Roman section. Percy and Grover stuck towards the back, glancing around at the statues and artwork on their way. Some of this stuff was _old_ \- like.. older than Mrs. Narla who lived down the hall, and Luke once told Percy that she was older than sliced bread. By the time they made it to their section, Percy couldn't help but gape at some of the ancient stuff around them. It kind of blew his mind to think that people thousands of years ago made all of this stuff.

Now, even Percy had to admit that for a teacher, Mr. Brunner was pretty cool. He had review sessions where the students got to use _real_ swords to slash through cardboard cutouts of historical figures. Last month he dressed in full armor to receive a speech from some ancient Greek general, and he let the class act out scenes from the Odyssey for extra credit. But he _always_ pushed Percy, even when most of the other teachers had written him off as a lost cause. 

Today was more of the same: Nancy kept whispering with her friends and _of course_ the other chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, couldn't hear her. But the second he turned towards Grover her eyes zeroes in in him with laser focus. The entire school year had been like that. Mrs. Dodds must have had some kind of personal vendetta against him. 

"Percy?" Mr. Brunner's voice broke him out of his reverie. "I asked if you could tell me what this urn is depicting."

Percy startled a little and felt his face heat up when his classmates started snickering. He studied the urn and let out a sigh of relief when he realized he actually knew the answer. "It's about Kronos, right?" at Mr. Brunner's nod he continued. "It's the story about him eating his kids."

"And who were his children, Percy?"

"Oh," Percy could feel the other students losing interest now that he obviously wasn't about to embarass himself. "Well his kids were the gods. The Greek gods, I mean."

"Very good Mr. Jackson," he waved towards the urn. "Kronos ate his children because he was worried they would eventually overthrow him, just as he and his siblings stole power from their father. But his wife managed to trick Kronos into eating a rock instead of his youngest son, and can you tell me what happened next Percy?"

Percy smirked at that. This was the best, grossest part of the story. "Zeus eventually tricked his dad into drinking some poisoned wine, and it made him puke up all the other kids."

Some of the other students began to gag, while Mr. Brunner nodded at him with a small smile. 

"God, that's gross. Who cares about this stuff anyway?" Nancy hissed from somewhere behind Percy.

"That is an excellent question, Miss Bobofit," Percy had to bite his lip to keep from laughing as Nancy's face turned as red as her hair. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever called her out. "Why do we still learn about these things today Percy?"

Now it was Percy's turn to flush. Why was he the only one being called on? He was about to tell Mr. Brunner he didn't know, when he thought about something Luke told him once.

"So history doesn't repeat itself?" he finally asked.

It was worth it when Mr. Brunner smiled proudly at him, giving him another nod before moving onto the next piece.

______

The class was spread out outside the museum eating lunch, and Percy and Grover we're sitting near a fountain, as far away from their classmates as possible. Other visitors were eying the students in obvious distrust, which Percy kinda got seeing as how he just watched Nancy snag some tourists wallet. He rolled his eyes and looked for their chaperones, already knowing that Mrs. Dodds wouldn't do anything about it. 

Shrugging his shoulders and deciding it wasn't worth the figh, he looked out over the familiar streets. His mom was _right there_ , only a few blocks away. Percy could easily slip away and go home, but he knew she would be disappointed in him. Not the mention the sad eyes Luke would give him when he heard about it. 

Grover's startled yelp pulled him out of his thoughts, and he turned just in time to see Nancy finish pouring her milk over his head, and Percy finally snapped. He was so angry that all he could hear was a roaring in his ears. Before he could even decide how to respond, he felt a tug in his gut and a big _pull_. The next thing he knew Nancy was on her butt in the fountain, hair soaked and a shocked look on her face. 

He blinked, staring down at his hands and wondering if he had moved without realizing it. "Percy pushed me!" Nancy jumped to her feet and glared at him, fists at her side as water dripped down her face. When Percy looked in her eyes he could have sworn she looked afraid.

"Now honey," Mrs. Dodds said in her sickly voice as she stalked towards him. "Come with me."

Grover quickly jumped up and shouted "It was me!", which frankly shocked Percy more than the fact that he possibly just telepathically shoved Nancy into a fountain, because Grover was the kind of guy who would rather pick peanut butter out of his hair than stand up to bullies. Maybe the difference was that this time _Percy_ was the one facing the bully. It didn't make much of a difference, since all around them students were whispering about what Percy had done. 

"--did you see?" "--like the water grabbed her." "--what a freak."

Mrs. Dodds pinned Grover to the spot with her glare. "You. Stay here."

Percy felt like he blinked and she was gone, already halfway up the steps towards the museum. How did such a tiny old lady move so fast? Things like that happened to him sometimes. The guidance counselor told him it had something to do with his ADHD, little pieces of time seemed to jump around sometimes. Luke always liked to joke that it was just their brains trying to help them out in a fight. Which.. maybe wasn't the worst theory. They both seemed to do really well in those weekly self-defense classes their mom forced them into.

Percy heaved a dramatic sigh, head dropping back to stare into the heavens. This was going to suck. Nothing for it, he finally trudged along after her. He figured she was probably taking him to the gift shop to make him buy Nancy a new shirt. If that was his punishment he was buying the ugliest one he could find.

They finally stopped when they made their way back to the Ancient Greek room. What were they doing in here? Was she planning on yelling at him and didn't want any witnesses? Maybe she was going to stuff him in one of the giant urns and leave him there. Caught up in his daydream (if I stay in one of the urns overnight, will everything in the museum come alive like the movie? I wonder how most of those statues would move around without knocking things over?) it took him a minute to notice that Mrs. Dodds had started circling him.

"You thought we wouldn't notice? Tell us where it is thief," she hissed out. Percy panicked. _She must know about the contraband candy selling scheme_ , he thought wildly. _But Luke was the mastermind behind that and Luke never gets caught with that kind of stuff_. He took a deep breath, making sure his face stayed blank, as he started turning with her to keep her in his field of vision. 

Luckily he had an older brother who was _really_ good at fooling adults and was more than happy to teach Percy his ways (What good is a little brother if you're in prison when we're adults?). As ruled #23 said, always play dumb.

"What are you looking for?" he asked, the two of them still circling each other like the world's slowest, dizziest, most boring dance off in history. 

"You will pay for stealing from our master!" she shouted as she.. just.. transformed. It was at this point that Percy began to question if he had accidentally taken one of Luke's special brownies. Because right in front of his eyes, Mrs. Dodd's sprouted a pair of leathery wings. Her teeth sharpened into points and when he dodged her hands he saw that they were curled into claws with huge fucking talons extending from them. With a sense of detached curiousity he wondered if they sprouted out of her fingers like Wolverine's claws, and he was positive they could slice him in half just as effectively. 

He ducked out of the way of her claws and rolled to left, head snapping to the side when he heard, "What ho, Percy!" shouted from the doorway. _I am definitely never eating anything Luke gives me again_ Percy thought woozily as Mr. Brunner tossed a pen in his direction. Really though, a pen? What exactly was Percy supposed to do with that? He always heard the saying "the pen is mightier than the sword", but in this case he didn't think it was meant to be taken so literally. To his immense surprise _courtesy of those magic brownies, he was sure at this point_ the pen elongated into an elegant sword the second he pulled the cap off. Out of pure instinct he slashed the sword down just as Mrs. Dodd's leapt at him. For one brief second their eyes met, and he stared at her in horror at what was about to happen. _Oh God, I just cut my algebra teacher in half and this is going to be so gross and blood is going to spray everywhere and I'm definitely going to puke and then go to jail_. He squeezed his eyes shut out of reflex, bracing himself for the feel of blood and other unthinkable items to splatter across himself and the room. Instead, he felt the air displace and a cloud of dust strart settling around him. Cracking one eye open, he stared in disbelief at the pile on the floor, somehow knowing at a visceral level that this was what remained of Mrs. Dodds. 

He stood there for several long minutes, gaping at the pile of dust. He glanced down at the pen that he was now white-knuckling as if it was tied to his sanity, then back to the doorway to see that Mr. Brunner was no longer there. Vaguely, he wondered what would happen if he puked into one of the two thousand year old urns. Luckily for both his police record and his dignity, he managed to find a garbage can to lose his lunch in instead. 

Scrubbing tears from his face absently he made his way back outside and to Mr. Brunner, who Percy was somehow not surprised to notice looked like he had never moved.

In a shaky hand he extended the pen towards Mr. Brunner, who glanced up with a smile. "Ah, thank you for returning this Mr. Jackson. I trust you'll remember to bring your own next time?"

Percy stared at him like he had grown two heads. He was just attacked by some nightmare demon who was also his _teacher_ and he killed her with a _pen_ and all Mr. Brunner could say was that he should keep a better eye on his writing utensils?

"Is there something else you needed Percy?"

Percy blinked. "Well.." he started awkwardly, now seriously wondering if it had entered an alternate dimension. He surreptitiosly glanced around -nope, the sky is still blue and Grover is still awkward and Nancy is still smirking at him like an evil maniac- before leaning closer and whispering. "What happened with Mrs Dodds?"

Mr. Brunner's brow furrowed. "Mrs. Dodds?" he asked strangely.

"Yeah.. the other chaperone?"

Mr. Brunner looked at Percy very seriously, looking like he was about to feel his forehead for a fever. "Percy, the other chaperone is Mrs. Kerr. I've never heard of a Mrs. Dodds. Are you feeling quite all right?"

______

Luke was decidedly anxious as he waited for Percy to get back from the field trip. Contrary to what Percy thought, he didn't still see his little brother as that tiny big eyed toddler who was way too trusting for a native New Yorker. But even Percy had to admit that he had a.. habit for attracting trouble. Luke was pretty sure that he could write a research paper with legitimate statistical analysis that would prove that Percy was more unlucky than a black cat that had broken a room full of mirrors.

The door burst open and Percy came tumbling into the room. Luke whirled around just in time to see his brother slam the door shut, pressing his back against it with his arms stretched out to either side like he was trying to keep an invading army out. His eyes were wild and panicked, and Luke could feels his own heart start racing in response.

He rushed over to stand in front of him, hands fluttering around his torso while he anxiously tried to figure out what had happened. Was he injured? Did someone attack him on his way back from the museum? He hadn't heard anything on the news about any major incidents downtown, but with Percy that didn't always mean anything. There was no news report three years ago when Percy _somehow_ managed to drop himself and his entire class into a shark tank right during feeding time.

Ok, nope. Luke learned long ago that the best response was to stay calm. Don't jump to conclusions. He took a deep breath to compose himself before asking, "Percy, what happened?"

Percy pressed his lips together and kept quiet, chest still heaving from running straight to Luke's room. Luke quickly looked him over, feeling something in his chest loosen a bit when he didn't see any obvious injuries. He put his hands on Percy shoulders and gave a tug, which Percy resisted for all of one second before bonelessly collapsing into his hold.

All at once the tension drained from Percy's frame. "What happened?" Luke asked again as he gave him one last squeeze, then gently tugged on Percy's elbow to lead him to the bed.

Percy immediately wedged himself in the corner and hugged his knees into his chest. He began picking at a thread on the comforter, staring down at it intensely and avoiding eye contact. With a sigh, Luke dropped onto the bed next to his brother and pulled him into a headlock.

"Are you going to tell me what happened or will I have to escalate interrogation tactics?" He asked in a serious voice. 

In response, Percy increased his defense tactics to Stage 3 Stubborn: jaw clenched and arms crossed defensively. Luke heaved a dramatic sigh and immediately started tickling his brother. The response was instantaneous; Percy was biting on his lip to muffle his laughter, using all of his strength to try and shove Luke off of him. Unfortunately for Percy, he had always been a little scrawny for his age. With a five year age gap plus a foot in height _and_ almost seventy pounds? He didn't stand a chance. He managed to hold out for about two minutes before he surrendered gracelessly.

"Fine!" He gasped out between laughter, "Stop, stop! I'll tell you." Luke eased up on the tickles but kept him in a headlock just in case he got any ideas and tried to make a run for it. 

"It's just.. you're not going to believe me," Percy finally mumbled, glaring down at the floor.

Luke gave him a little shake, "You know I'll always believe you Sharkbite."

As expected, Percy rolled his eyes a little at the old nickname, but Luke knew him well enough to know that he secretly still loved it. With a grumble he shook himself out of the hold and they both sat up and leaned themselves against the wall, shoulders touching. Percy took a deep breath before letting out the story in a rush, words tumbling together.

"--and now everyone is saying that there never _was_ a Mrs. Dodds, and I _know_ that Grover is lying to me _AND_ Mr. Brunner too but I don't understand _why_ and everyone else is looking at me like I'm _crazy_ but I'm not!" he finishes almost with a shout, turning wide eyes to Luke, practically begging him to agree that _no, you most definitely are not crazy and yes, you most definitely did have a teacher named Mrs. Dodds who you have been complaining about for months, how could anyone forget that crazy lady?_

Luke gently grabbed onto Percy's shoulders and gave squeeze, stopping him mid-sentence. "Percy, I believe you, ok?" He gave him another little shake. "When I was on my own.." He cleared his throat. He _never_ talked about the months he spent on his own. "I saw a lot of weird things, ok? And the few times I tried to tell someone they always acted like I was crazy." 

Percy's breathing had finally calmed down and he lost some of the wild look in his eyes. "You really believe me?"

Luke's face softened. He and Percy had been through a lot together in their short lives. Most of the time it was just the two of them against the world. Through all the shit with Gabe to getting expelled just about every year, sometimes the only thing they kept either of them sane was knowing that there was always someone who was in your corner. Of course Sally Jackson was a literal gift from god, but there was only so much either of them could pile on her shoulders. Having a brother who was wading through all the muck with you made things a little more bearable. 

"Of course I believe you Sharkbite." He pulled him in for another hug. When he felt Percy lose some of the tension in his shoulders he attacked him again with some tickles. Maybe at twelve Percy was getting too old for it, but Luke would do anything to get that miserable look off his face.

______

 

The year went downhill from there. Percy was constantly on edge and angry, snapping at other students and teachers. The only thing that even remotely helped was Luke. He made it a point to walk with Percy to classes whenever he could, and would remind him that the smartest way to get back at someone was real quiet and sneaky-like. Instead of punching Nancy in the face, he helped him break into her locker and fill it with jello. It was really the little things in life. Unfortunately, not even Luke could be there all the time. Percy wasn't surprised when his mom received a letter informing her that Percy would not be welcome back next year. He was even less surprised that three days later Luke had kicked up enough trouble to get the same letter. This wasn't their first rodeo.

The only class that Percy still made much of an effort in was Mr. Brunner's. He still wasn't really sure what had happened at the museum which made him naturally a little distrustful, but Mr. Brunner was the only teacher who didn't write Percy off as a lost cause. Which is why Percy found himself awake at close to midnight trying to force himself to cram every ancient Greek name and date he could before the final. 

After he felt his eyes cross for the third time, he dropped his book with a thud a slumped back in his seat. There were just too many names to keep track of. Normally he would bounce some of the info off of Luke, since he found it easier to straighten everything out if he could say it out loud, but he knew that his brother was cramming just as much for his finals. 

Well, there's nothing for it, he thought to himself. I'll just have to see if Mr. Brunner is still in his office so I can go over this with him.

He wanted to cry with relief when he saw Mr. Brunner's door cracked open with the light still on. As he was about to approach, he realized that he heard two voices in the office. 

"--really worried about Percy, sir."

_Grover?_ , Percy thought as he immediately came to a standstill. _Why is Grover talking about me with Mr. Brunner?_

Percy felt a little weird about eavesdropping, but honestly there isn't a person alive who could resist listening to their best friend chatting with them with an adult. With a shrug and a mental thanks in Luke's direction for teaching him how to sneak, he inched closer.

"--they'll be alone this summer," Grover continued. "We can't keep them hidden much longer. I still don't know how Luke managed--" There was shuffling around the room, "--Kindly One, here!"

"We would only make matters worse by rushing them," Mr. Brunner said. "Currently our only advantage is that they are in the dark."

"But the Summer Solstice--"

"Will have to be resolved without them, Grover. Let them enjoy their ignorance while they can."

"Sir, I can't fail in my duties again."

"You haven't failed Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she is. For now let's just worry about keeping them both alive until next fall."

_Keeping them alive until next fall_. The book slipped out of Percy's numb fingers, the loud thud echoing through the hall. Immediately the office went silent. Hear hammering, Percy grabbed his book and slowly starting backing down the hall as quietly as he could. Of course Mr. Brunner's office was towards the end of the hall. There were no turns Percy could hide around, so instead he dove into an unlocked classroom and shut the door qith a soft click. He crouched under the window, hugging the book to his chest and squeezing his eyes shut. _Keep walking, keep walking, keep walking_.

A strange clop-clop-clop made its way down the hall, and Percy let out a silent sigh of relief when it passed the room without slowing. 

"Nothing," Mr. Brunner said. "My nerves haven't been right since the Winter Solstice. Go back to your room, you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow."

Percy waited for what felt like forever before he finally snuck up to Luke's room. He couldn't be sure what he had just heard. The only thing he knew was that Grover and Mr. Brunner had been talking about them. And they thought they were in some kind of danger.

______

 

The next morning Percy felt like he had been run over. He had stayed up almost the entire night jumping from angry that Grover and Mr. Brunner seemed to be keeping secrets from him, to afraid of what exactly those secrets could be. He finally fell asleep around three in the morning, and had dreams about a biker gang full of geriatrics who wanted to kill him and serve him up for dinner. He must have been tossing and turning the entire night if the bleary-eyed glare Luke kept shooting him was any indication. It wasn't all that easy sharing a bed anymore.

By the time he made it to his Greek final, he felt like his brain had been scooped out and he could easily sleep for ten years. 

After forcing his brain to wring out every drop of Greek mythology it could - was it Acastus or Akrisios who tossed baby Perseus in the ocean to avoid a prophecy? - Percy felt like he could barely remember his own name. 

Mercifully, the bell rang _after_ Percy finished. As everyone gathered their bags to leave the classroom, Mr. Brunner made his way towards Percy. For a minute Percy panicked, thinking that he was going to call him out for eavesdropping the night before. 

"Percy," he said, rubbing at the back of his head absently. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. Its.." he trailed off, drumming his fingers against the arm of his chair. "It's for the best."

His tone was kind but Percy could immediately feel his face heat up. The other kids still packing up could obviously hear, if the muffled laughter was any indication.

"Thanks sir," he mumbled, trying to stuff his things into his bag as quickly as possible.

"I just mean," he tried, crossing and uncrossing his arms, "this isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time"

Percy could feel his eyes stinging, and prayed for a hole to open in the ground and swallow him. Here was his favorite teacher, in front of the entire class, reminding him that he didn't fit in. 

"Right," he whisperedd shakily, yanking at the zipper on his bag.

"No, no," Mr. Brunner said, 'I just mean.. I'm trying to say that you're not normal Percy."

The rest of the class immediately started laughing even harder, and Percy stared at Mr. Brunner with wide eyes.

"Percy, I meant--"

With one final tug Percy got his bag closed and was out of his seat before he could hear the rest.

 

______

 

Percy was slamming the last of his stuff into his duffel bag, avoiding Luke's sharp eyes from where he was lounging on the bed and tossing a ball into the air. He could _feel_ the the questions about to start. Before he could start, the door flung open as Grover came flying into room, out of breath from apparently sprinting there after his last final.

"Oh thank the gods I caught you," he puffed out, bracing his hands on his knees. "I wanted to ride back into the city with you."

Percy and Luke shared a glance. He had obviously told Luke about the conversation he overheard, and still wasn't really sure how to feel about Grover keeping secrets from him.

"I didn't realize you were going back to the city G-man," Luke said, propping himself up on his elbows. 

"Oh, um, well yes, you see," Grover fidgeted at the doorway, "I'm going to my place in Long Island." He had yet to make eye contact with either of them, staring down at the floor like it was a fascinating piece of artwork. "I figured since we'd all be taking the bus into the city we could just go together."

Percy zipped up his duffel as he considered. On one hand, Grover was obviously keeping secrets. On the other hand, he had been Percy's closest friend in years. Maybe he could give him the benefit of the doubt. Mind made up, he looked over to where Grover was still nervously shifting from foot to foot.

"Sure, we can all ride together."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (waves awkwardly from behind my laptop)
> 
> Hi guys! Ok ok, I know I said every two weeks I would add a chapter BUT I had started writing on my phone and that's insanely time consuming. I finally got a laptop so updates should be much smoother from now on. 
> 
> This chapter isn't super long, but I was hopeful I could get something out there now and then start updating longer chapters more regularly.
> 
> Thanks for whoever is sticking around! It's wild having people listening to all those thoughts you toss around.

**Author's Note:**

> I will try to post every other Sunday if I'm able.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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